Henry Melton was arrested at a Dallas-area bar faces charges of assault and public intoxication. Grapevine police Sgt. Robert Eberling says Melton was arrested on Sunday at Chill Sports Bar after becoming belligerent and refusing to leave.

A Chicago Bears defensive tackle faces a charge of assault and public intoxication following an early Sunday morning disturbance at downtown Grapevine bar.

Henry Melton, 27, was released from the Grapevine city jail Sunday after posting bond, said Sgt. Robert Eberling, a police spokesman.

“Melton allegedly was belligerent with some of the staff members of the restaurant,” the spokesman said. “He was asked to leave and he refused to do so.”

As he was being escorted out of the bar, Melton is accused of having struck one of the employees, Eberling said.

“He was restrained at that point. When Grapevine police arrived, he was arrested for public intoxication and charged with assault as well,” the spokesman said.

The assault charge is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Public intoxication is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine.

His agent, Jordan Woy, told ESPN.com that Melton got into an argument with a bartender but denies assaulting anyone

“He said he didn’t throw a punch at anybody and that he got jumped by a couple of bouncers on the way out,” Woy told ESPN.

Melton has been on injured reserve status since tearing his ACL during a game in September. He attended Grapevine High School and played college football at the University of Texas, according to NFL.com.

Begging for police to come quickly, a woman tells a Terrell 911 operator that a man had broken in and tried to shoot her and a friend.

“Hurry, please,” the unidentified woman tells the 911 operator in the Oct. 28 recording that came in at 10:38 p.m. “Please, hurry.”

Charles Brownlow

The recording was the last of a half-dozen 911 recordings released Tuesday from the night that authorities say Charles Brownlow Jr. went on a shooting rampage that left his mother, Mary Catherine Brownlow, 61; his aunt, Belinda Walker, 55, and three others dead.

Brownlow, 36, is currently being held without bond in the Kaufman County jail on a charge of capital murder and evading arrest.

The first call came at 10:06 p.m. from a neighbor of Jason Wooden and Kelleye Sluder.

“We’re hearing shots,” a woman says. We just heard four shots on our street and our street is always quiet.”

She also tells the 911 operator that she saw a white car leaving the area. Authorities would later reveal that Brownlow had taken his mom’s white Focus.

“I’ve just never seen it before,” she said. “It was just at our neighbor’s house.”

At 10:13 p.m., the same woman calls 911 asking that police come and check on Wooden and Sluder.

“We’re trying to call them,” the woman says. “Their garage door is up. They’re not answering the phone which is unusual.”

Police would soon find the bodies of Wooden, 33, and Sluder, 30. Their 3-year-old son was unharmed.

Another 911 call came in at 10:21 p.m. This time it was from a customer who had found the body of convenience store clerk Luis Leal-Carillo, 22.

“He’s dead,” the customer tells the 911 operator. “He’s full of blood behind him. .. We came in and he was behind the counter.”

Police have said that an off-duty officer reported seeing Brownlow flee the scene in a white car.

The final call came from the home of Kris Humphreys, who had barricaded himself and his female friend in the back bedroom of his Francis Street home.

Humphreys was a high school classmate of Brownlow’s. He had seen Brownlow earlier that day, but had later heard from a neighbor that Brownlow was suspected of killing his mom and his aunt.

Later when Brownlow knocked at his door, he and his female friend hid in a back bedroom of the two-bedroom home. Authorities say Brownlow tried to break down the front door and when that failed, he threw a cinder block through a front bedroom window, crawled inside and began repeatedly firing into the room where Humpheys and his friend had barricaded themselves.

“He could be in the house,” Humphreys says frantically during the 911 call.
The 911 operator tries to reassures them that police have already arrived on the scene and are checking the house to see if the gunman was still there.

“He’s just really scared right now,” the female friend tells the 911 operator.

Humphreys and his female friend emerged from the room largely unscathed. Hours later, following a police pursuit, authorities would capture Brownlow hiding in a creek.

In a rare move, a Dallas County grand jury has indicted a former Garland police officer on a charge of manslaughter in an August 2012 incident in which he shot 41 times at a fleeing suspect.

Patrick Tuter, 33, was indicted Monday on the second degree felony in the death of Michael Vincent Allen, an unarmed Wylie man. The charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

He was fired earlier this year from his job as a Garland police officer after an internal investigation concluded that he violated the departments’ use of force and pursuit policies. Mesquite police conducted the criminal investigation.

“He believed the suspect had a gun,” John Snider, an attorney representing Tuter said last year. “He believed he had a gun based on the situation and the suspect’s actions.”

It is believed to be the first time in more than 15 years that Dallas County grand jury has indicted an officer in a fatal police shooting.

Video played an important role in this case just as it did in the recent controversial Dallas case in which Officer Cardan Spencer was fired from the force after shooting Bobby Bennett, a mentally ill man with a knife who had said he wanted police to kill him. Authorities had initially said that Bennett had aggressively come at the officers with the knife raised, but a neighbor’s surveillance video showed that Bennett was standing still with his arms at his sides.

In Tuter’s case, authorities initially said that Tuter opened fire after Allen rammed a squad car as police tried to box him in. Dash-cam video later showed that Tuter’s squad car crashed into the truck.

Don Tittle, an attorney representing the Allen and Bennett families, said he hopes that these two incidents “cause investigators of these shootings to be a little more skeptical of the police officer’s version.”

“More and more, we’re learning that the account given by the police officer is not what actually occurred,” said Tittle, who is presenting the Allen family in a federal wrongful death lawsuit. “That should be pretty alarming. It should certainly cause you to wonder in cases where there’s no video at all and the officer just claims that the person made an aggressive move and they may or may not find a weapon on the person.”

The events that led to Tuter’s indictment began shortly before midnight on August 31, 2012, when Garland police spotted a white GMC pickup that had been involved in a recent chase with Sachse police. Officers attempted to stop the truck but Allen fled from them.

The half-hour, high-speed chase concluded in a Mesquite cul de sac where Tuter opened fire on Allen’s truck

Tuter reloaded at least once, striking 25-year-old Allen three times. He was the only officer at the scene who fired his weapon during the incident.

Mitchell Wallace, who lived in the neighborhood where the shooting occurred, told The Dallas Morning News last year that he was asleep when the gunshots began.

“There was a pause in between the firing that made me believe he was reloading,” Wallace said at the time
Wallace’s teen-age son, Cameron, said then that Allen’s truck was pinned between two squad cars with one of the cars striking the truck from the front.

“From the time they yelled, ‘Get out, get out,’ they didn’t give him three seconds to get out,” Mitchell Wallace said. He said he counted as many as 20 bullet holes in the truck.

Allen had pending charges of evading arrest, drug possession and assault at the time of his death.

Tuter’s indictment also comes at a time when District Attorney Craig Watkins is pushing county commissioners to fund a unit that would allow the DA’s office to investigate shootings involving officers from start to finish. He has said other large DA offices have specialized units that investigate such shootings.

“Without exception, every one of those offices actually has a unit that investigates shootings independently,” the district attorney said in a recent interview. “So we’re somewhat behind the eight ball on this deal.”

In 1996, a Dallas County grand jury indicted former Grand Prairie officer Blake Hubbard on a charge of murder in the shooting death of Joe Calloway, a knife-wielding mentally ill man who the officer said lunged at a fellow officer.

At that time, Hubbard’s indictment was the first indictment of a police officer in a fatal police-involved shooting in 25 years. Hubbard was later acquitted.

Twelve students were arrested Friday afternoon at North Dallas High School for participating in a gang-related riot last month on the campus, according to court records.

The charge is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.

“We’re not going to tolerate unruly or disruptive behavior to the learning environment,” said Dallas ISD Police Chief Craig Miller. “If you’re misbehaving and you’re doing things you’re not supposed to be doing, we will put you in jail for it.”

Miller declined to comment on whether the arrests were gang related, but he recently told school board members that the district has at least 100 gangs.

According to court documents, the students had been involved in a series of “gang conflicts.” The incident that led to the riot charges involved a fight that occurred on Sept. 26 “outside of the school building.”

“The altercation led to several combative groups confronting each other,” the records state.

The students were seen “throwing up gang signs in the face of rival gang members” and “displaying” bandannas showing off their gang colors, the documents said.

Four of the students – Gregory Jackson, Mark Martinez; Damion Pacheco and Miguel Reyes – were booked into the Dallas County Jail. They are 17.

The other eight students are juveniles and were taken to the county’s juvenile detention center.

Warrants have been issued for two remaining students, who remained at large.

Under state law, a person can be charged with participating in a riot if “seven or more persons” participate in an incident that, for example, “creates an immediate danger of damage to property or injury to persons.”

A day after his arrest in Louisiana, serial rape suspect Van Dralan Dixson is being held in a Baton Rouge jail on $5 million bail.

Authorities in Louisiana said they are waiting to receive paperwork from Dallas County so that an extradition hearing for Dixson can be scheduled.

“I’ve been in touch with Craig Watkins,” said East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III. “It’s my understanding that they are expediting this matter and will be providing us with documents in the very near future.”

Dixson, 38, was captured Tuesday afternoon, ending a four-day manhunt for an man believed to have attacked at least nine women in the Fair Park area since June. He currently faces four counts of aggravated sexual assault after having been linked through DNA to those cases.

Dallas police detectives also traveled to Baton Rouge to speak with him, but it is unclear whether he did so. Continue reading →

Mason’s name and picture were released last week by authorities as a “person of interest” in a series of nine rapes in the Fair Park area.

“It doesn’t matter if I was called a suspect or not,” Mason said in an interview at the Dallas County jail, where he is being held for violating his probation on a DWI conviction. He has not been charged in connection with the rapes, and does not have any other convictions on his record.

“They made me a suspect in the public’s eyes. Now I feel like I’m guilty until proven innocent.”

Police Chief David Brown has not responded to requests for comment today regarding whether Mason is still considered a person of interest. Police commanders have previously defended the release of Mason’s name and picture and said that police continue to investigate all leads.

Police have since said that Van Dralan Dixson, a convicted felon, has been linked by DNA to one of the nine rapes. The manhunt for Dixson continues.

Mason, who has a bachelor and master’s degree in criminal justice from Grambling State University, said he provided police with a sample of his DNA and allowed them to search his home and car. He said he checks the newspaper every day waiting for when police will announce that what he already knows — that he’s innocent.

Mason is particularly upset that Brown took to Twitter last last Thursday to announce his name as a person of interest in the case. Mason calls it an “unprofessional” act.

“Why would he do this to me?” said Mason, who was working as an insurance agent. “I don’t deserve this. I’m very respectful to females. I have three sisters and a daughter. I don’t even cuss at females. And so for him to attach that to me, it’s just devastating.”

Brown’s announcement on Twitter came hours after frustrated South Dallas confronted his commanders at a community meeting that the chief did not attend. Residents were angry that the police department did not alert the public until there had been a series of seven rapes near Fair Park since June. Two other women have since come forward since the public announcement to say that they also were raped.

Police have said that Mason “fully cooperated” with the investigation. They also have said that he became a person of interest after an anonymous tipster told them that Mason “needed to get out of town because he had done something wrong.”

The tipster gave police an address in the area where the attacks occurred. There, they found a 2001 silver Honda that they linked to Mason. Police had said they were looking for a gray four-door sedan that was described by one of the victims.

Mason says the car belonged to his grandmother and he had not driven it in more than a year.

A veteran Dallas County district judge was appointed today as the visiting judge in the capital murder cases filed against Kim and Eric Williams in the slayings earlier this year of the Kaufman County district attorney, his wife and a top assistant.

“I thought he would be an excellent choice,” said John Ovard, presiding judge of the first administrative judicial region which covers more than 30 Texas counties, including Kaufman and Dallas. “He’s said he would devote the time and make this a high priority.”

Ovard, who made the appointment, noted that Snipes has “excellent death penalty case experience” and is among the judges who have developed an expertise in the selection of jurors in such cases.

No decision has been announced about whether the special prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the couple.

Snipes is well-regarded and admired in criminal justice circles. He has been on the bench for more than six years. He is a graduate of West Point and received his law degree from the University of Texas. He served for six years as a prosecutor and defense attorney in the Army JAG, as well as 13 years as a federal prosecutor.

“I’m honored that Judge Ovard has trusted me with this assignment,” Snipes said.

He has presided over a number of high-profile trials, including the 2007 trial of a man who tortured his dog by setting it on fire, the 2007 trial of a man who murdered and dismembered his sometime sexual partner and the 2009 trial of a man who shot and killed Christian music producers during a robbery

In his role as visiting judge, Snipes will be taking on one of the most notorious cases in North Texas history.

Hasse was gunned down as he walked to the courthouse on Jan. 31. The McLellands were killed over the Easter weekend.

Authorities also say investigators have matched spent shell casings found at the McLelland crime scene with a live round found at a storage shed where Eric Williams stored large amounts of ammunition of various types and dozens of weapons. Both shells had been fired from the same gun.

They also have seized getaway cars believed to have used in the slayings.

Eric and Kim Williams are both held in the Kaufman County jail.

Law partners Bill Wirskye and Toby Shook, both veteran former Dallas County prosecutors, have been appointed as special prosecutors in the case.

Dallas Police Officers Matthew Merta and Joel Teft rescued three unconscious people from a vehicle as it teetered over the guardrail over the North Central Expressway.

Police Chief David Brown presents award to Officer Matthew Merta.

The two Central Patrol officers climbed onto the vehicle as Officer Jeremy Carter and several bystanders held down the rear bumper to prevent it from plummeting to the freeway below.

For their heroism, Merta and Teft received the department’s Medal of Valor and Life Saving Awards during an awards ceremony held Thursday at the Jack Evans Police Headquarters. Carter was awarded the Life Saving Award.

Senior Cpls. Paul Deborst, Justin Hellenguard, Mark Bacon, Travis French and Police Officer Daniel Canete of the Southeast Division received the Medal of Valor for the actions they took when confronting an armed robbery suspect. Senior Corporal Brad Walker was awarded the Meritorious Conduct Award for his “exemplary courage and bravery” during the confrontation.

Chief Brown shakes the hand of Senior Cpl. Justin Hellenguard who received the Medal of Valor. The officer's children are holding the award.

Sgt. Mark Swindell was reinstated to his job on the force, months after a Dallas County grand jury declined to indict him on a felony charge. Swindell had told internal investigators that he began using the medication as a result of injuries he suffered during on-duty incidents.

Swindell will not receive back pay, his attorney, Bob Baskett, said.

“They recognized that he was a good officer so they reinstated him,” Baskett said. “He’s happy to be reinstated.”

Swindell had been scheduled to have a hearing late last month in front of an administrative law judge when the city opted instead to reinstate him.

Baskett said Swindell still suffers from ongoing back problems, and continues to recieve treatment.

According to police internal affairs records, Swindell told investigators that he started taking hydrocodone in 2004 after an on duty car crash. He said he stopped taking it in 2007.

But in late 2008, and early 2009, Swindell said he began to feel pain in his legs and back so he sought medical treatment.

In August 2011, Swindell said he injured his groin during an encounter with a robbery suspect and exacerbated the pain in his back. About a month later, he said he was reinjured during another physical encounter with a suspect.

“From that point forward, my back and leg pain were greatly intensified,” Swindell wrote in a statement to internal investigators.

He said he later began to suffer from numbness in his legs.

A police investigation determined that between November 2011 and February 2012 he was receiving prescriptions for hydrocodone from more than one doctor.

“I have never taken pain medicine to get high,” Swindell wrote. “Only recently when the pain was out of control did I mistake of taking more than I was supposed to.”